AIM’s 2013 Yearend Wrapup: Q-4

n October…Rough Brothers Inc. integrated an above ground lagoon into their Algae Greenhouse design as an alternative to forming and pouring permanent concrete pond walls or excavating into questionable soil conditions necessary for below ground ponds…Heliae announced that it has begun operations at its first commercial facility in Gilbert, Arizona, which will initially produce high-value algae products for nutraceutical and personal care products…the 2013 Algae Biomass Summit, the world’s largest event focused on algae technology, revealed new production capabilities and forecasts for commercial quantities of biofuels, feeds, Omega-3 oils, plastics and other products derived from large-scale, industrial algae agriculture operations…Ewing, NJ-based Proterro, Inc., the only biofeedstock company that makes sucrose instead of extracting it from crops or deconstructing cellulosic materials, commissioned a pilot plant in Florida…Solazyme announced its entry into the textile lubricants market through a commercial supply agreement with Goulston Technologies Inc., a leading global producer of high-performance fiber lubricants…Leslie van der Meulen joined BioProcess Algae as Vice President of Business Development…the National Algae Association announced the opening of a new Algae Production Incubator Program, located 30 miles south of Ft. Worth/ Dallas… a new technique to enhance the formation and accumulation of chlorophyll in algae was developed by Colin Raston, from Flinders University, and his co-workers at the University of Western Australia… Scarborough, Maine-based laboratory instrumentation manufacturer Fluid Imaging Technologies earned the Robert R. Masterton Award for Economic Development…OriginOil agreed to transfer three of its early patent applications to its French joint venture, Ennesys…Congressmen Scott Peters (D-CA) and Matt Salmon (R-AZ) launched the Congressional Algae Caucus to provide a forum for Members of Congress and their staffs to learn about and interact with the algae industry…U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the availability of $181 million to develop commercial-scale biorefineries or retrofit existing facilities with appropriate technology to develop advanced biofuels…Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-based Algaetech International broke ground for their Haematococcus Pluvialis Cultivation, Production and Bio-Processing Plant…Simris Alg AB produced its first batch of oil from algae, grown and harvested in the company’s plant in the village of Hammenhög, in southern Sweden…Algenol revealed a new cultivation/extraction form factor to create ethanol at upwards of 9000 gallons per acre annually…

Arke Airlines is working to become the airline with the lowest CO2 emission per passenger per kilometer in the Netherlands.

n November…a study published on WATTAgNet.com, an information resource for poultry, pig and feed industries, determined that piglets fed with microalgae demonstrated increased immunity and antiviral defenses by limiting the negative effects of mycotoxins…DSM, the Netherlands-based international health science company that purchased Martek Biosciences in late 2010, announced the launch of life’sOMEGA™ 60, which they claim is the first high-potency vegetarian DHA and EPA omega-3 oil developed from a sustainable algal source…Utah State University and the Logan City (Utah) Environmental Department announced a testbed facility where research and testing is being conducted utilizing algae-based engineering systems for algal biomass production and water quality improvement…a Saudi Arabian governmental spokesperson said that the country will be one of the few algae producing countries around the world with production capacity expected to reach 30,000 tons by 2014…Arke Airlines and Netherlands-based Wageningen University & Research Center joined forces to develop sustainable jet fuel derived from algae…the Environmental Protection Agency proposed biofuels requirements for the year 2014 calling for significantly less renewable fuel than the Renewable Fuel Standard originally intended, and less than what the advanced biofuels industry has indicated it will produce…Scripps Institution of Oceanography researchers demonstrated a method to genetically engineer a lipid growth component in a marine algae used to produce biofuel…BISIGODOS, a 14-partner European research and development project was launched to select and cultivate new varieties of microalgae that allow the optimization of the extraction of high value products for the industry…

n December…U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced the USDA and Navy’s joint “Farm-to-Fleet” venture will now make biofuel blends part of regular, operational fuel purchase and use by the military…Solazyme announced the appointment of David C. Cole as President…Congressman Scott Peters (D-CA) introduced legislation to extend the existing tax credit for producers of advanced biofuels, such as those derived from algae…Algae.Tec entered into an exclusive Collaborative Agreement with Nutrition Care Laboratories, based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia to concentrate, in the short term, on growing high quality, high value, nutraceuticals, with an immediate focus on Chlorella and B-Carotene algae…Engineers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratories combined several chemical steps into one continuous process that starts with an algae slurry that contains as much as 80 to 90 percent water and, in a matter of minutes, converts it to bio-crude. The research was licensed by Genifuel Corp…animal feed giant Alltech, in Lexington, Kentucky, expanded its 15,000 ton/yr. algal DHA plant in Winchester, KY, one of only two plants in the world commercially producing a high-DHA heterotrophic microalgae…Sapphire Energy and Phillips 66 announced a strategic joint development agreement aimed at taking production of algae crude oil a significant step toward commercialization…OriginOil inaugurated its Permanent Technology Showcase at model sustainable fish farm Aqua Farming Tech in Thermal, CA…for more news, go to www.algaeindustrymagazine.com